Crows counting on us

The Grounds Department is asking us to be careful when walking near a few nests that crows are building on campus. There are believed to be at least three nests, two near the Lynn Building, as indicated in the picture, and one in the Ethnobotanical Garden. There may also be a nest in a tree at the southwest corner of the Engineering Building.

As Gardener Becki Koukal-Liebe explains, "Crows, like people, are protective of their young and dive-bomb folks walking close to their young. The young crows leave the nest a couple of weeks prior to being able to fly and are cared for by their parents on the ground. At this stage it is easy to mistake them as injured or abandoned. Although we have no intention of harming them, the crows can't know that.

"This is especially true for folks when it comes to dogs, which look like wolves to other predatory animals. The young crows are especially vulnerable to pets at this time and I would like to advise pet owners to keep their pets on a leash in this area."

For anyone wanting more information on crow behavior and the relationship between these birds and humans, Kokal-Liebe recommends the website for Professor John Marzluff at the University of Washington's Avian Conservation Laboratory.